The Brisbane City Council has cancelled the upcoming New Year’s Eve and Australia Day fireworks in aligning with COVID-19 restrictions.

The events would usually see around 100,000 people gathered at Southbank to watch the show, which Deputy mayor Krista Adams has advised will not be suitable this year or early next.

The council has advised there will be measures implemented to control the crowds at South Bank on these days, such as heightened security. Adams is encouraging citizens to attend restaurants or bars to celebrate instead.

It has been announced the Australian Defence Force will be issued to more natural disasters and COVID-type emergencies around the country.

The change comes as what the ADF is calling a “paradigm shift” to concentrate on the effects of climate change.

Around 14,000 active reservists will be the key responders in the plan, attending mandatory call-outs to assist state agencies struggling with catastrophic disasters, such as the bushfires.

The Melbourne Cup is preparing for its annual event today, despite things looking quite different this year.

The horses and trainers will be at the track, but there will be no audiences at the actual Melbourne Cup due to coronavirus restrictions.

The Racing Minister of Victoria, Martin Pakula, stated that although there has been the ease of some restrictions, it was “not a suitable time for gatherings of this nature”.

An elevated tram in the Dutch city of Rotterdam drove past the end of its tracks.

However, instead of falling 10 metres to the ground, it landed delicately on the top of a statue of a whale’s tail.

The conductor was unharmed, and there were no passengers on board.

The statue, ironically called ‘Saved by a Whale’s Tale’, had prevented the tram crashing to the ground.

Anger has risen in Bangladesh, where over 50,000 people have joined together in protest against French president Emmanuel Macron.

Citizens of Bangladesh are outraged over Macron’s approval of secular laws, which allow the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

The protest began at Bangladesh’s largest mosque, and made its way to the French Embassy where security had to be increased.

The death toll in Turkey from an earthquake in the Aegean Sea has risen to 60, with more than 900 people injured. The magnitude 7 earthquake also triggered a small tsunami and hundreds of aftershocks that were felt across both Turkey and Greece. The quake occurs as Turkey struggles with economic downturn and the pandemic.

Europe has recorded more than 1.5 million new cases of coronavirus in the past week, taking the total number of infections in the region to 10 million. France, Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom have announced nationwide lockdowns and Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Italy have tightened their restrictions. The Slovakian Government has made the decision to test all of its 5.4 million residents for the virus, with Prime Minister Igor Matovic calling it a “road to freedom”.

Monthly data from property management company Corelogic has shown that house prices in Australia have risen overall for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Every capital city has seen a slight gain in prices, except for Melbourne. This national increase comes after five months of decline due to the pandemic.